Stitching Resistance: women who make

A compañera belonging to the EZLN movement in Chiapas, Mexico weaves on a traditional Mayan backstrap loom

“Making connects me with with so much in a way that gives me autonomy and hope for the planet” –Manuela Hernandez, Tsotsil Elder, Chiapas

I once read that women do two thirds of the world’s work. Work that often remains invisible, under compensated and simply expected by society. Throughout my Latin American travels I met artisans that make with their hands their whole lives, slowly carrying on ancient traditions of beauty and culture, that stitch resistance toward a dominant culture that rejects indigenous, handmade one-of-a-kind and small is beautiful ethos. These women powerfully re-embroider a world filled with inter-connection, equality, female empowerment and creativity for humanity. These women are strong with voices and names and songs while they work. They are so humble yet so skilled. They deserve our attention for making what no machine can ever recreate: artful soul and regenerative knowledge. We make for more than a living. We craft for life.

Members of the Jolom Mayaetik indigenous women’s cooperative in Chiapas weave and spin using local fibres and techniques. To protect their identities I will not list their names.

Above: The vibrant and humorous Rosa Lopez vends her original lacework, knitting and hand embroidery in Trinidad, Cuba.

Below: The talented and wonderful teacher Maria Gomez sells directly from her workshop in central Trinidad, Cuba. Her tapestry success has become international with exhibitions in Europe later this year!

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Who is Permaculture Artisan?

Hi, I'm Dalia and I love to travel, handmake all things slow textiles like plant-based dyes, local wool knits and felts, write and practice permaculture beyond solely food production. Here you'll find my latest and greatest adventures in a quest to celebrate and reclaim making with nature and inspire an ecological renaissance. Find me on Facebook and Ravelry by searching "Wildcrafted Wool."

What is Permaculture?

Despite the many definitions, here goes...Permaculture is a contraction of the words "permanent," and “culture.” It advocates developing permanent, self-sufficient systems based on natural ecosystems. Developed by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the late 1970's, it originated as a solution to the destructive and toxic agri-industry. Permaculture means whole regenerative design that nourishes people, planet and soul ecologically, socially, and economically.

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Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose...

“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it”—Bertolt Brecht

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and value of nothing”—Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray

“It is not the strongest animal that survives, nor the fastest but the one most adaptable to change” –Leon C. Megginson, paraphrasing Charles Darwin

“…the individual artist moves from the private narratives of self to the public discourse of art as a tool to empower and transform the lives of women and their communities…I have found the intense need to live in beauty and create meaningful works of art. The need to create forms of beauty allows the artist to transcend horror, improve society and envision a brighter future” –Marjorie Agosin, Stitching Resistance

“Permaculture is that art of the possible” –Graham Bell, The Permaculture Garden

“This might well be the hidden reason why permaculture appeals to me so much—it encourages creativity and individuality. No matter how hard some might try to deny it, no matter how forcefully we have been squeezed into one mold or another, we are at heart all wonderfully creative individuals. Permaculture allows us to celebrate this.”—Jenni Blackmore, Permaculture for the Rest of Us